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[Provisional Translation]

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held the second meeting of the Council on Investments for the Future at the Prime Minister’s Office.

At the meeting, discussion was held on the promotion of investments for the future, as well as issues and investment for the future in the medical and nursing care sectors.

Based on the discussion, the Prime Minister said,

“The growth strategy aimed at investments for the future has entered a new stage. In light of the declining population and the extreme aging of society, we will work to become the first in the world to realize Society 5.0, in which new technological innovations are utilized to enrich peoples’ lives.

Today, we began detailed discussions on the medical and nursing care sectors.

The year 2025, when the baby boomer generation will reach the age of 75, is fast approaching. One of the most urgent issues we face is extending healthy life expectancy. To ensure we are ready for the ‘2025 issue,’ Japan will launch a new medical and nursing care system that will be fully operational by 2020, centered on preventive care and health management, and supporting peoples’ independence.

In the field of medical care, data analysis will make it possible to provide preventive care and treatment tailored specifically to the condition of each individual. Utilizing big data and artificial intelligence to the fullest, we will advance preventive care and health management, and remote diagnosis, in order to achieve higher quality medical care.

People will be able to receive high quality medical services in every corner of Japan. The elderly will be able to lead active lifestyles.  Social security costs will also decrease. We must usher in a paradigm shift in medical care that realizes all of these goals at once. 

We must also achieve a paradigm shift in nursing care.

Conventional nursing care focuses on providing in-person care for elderly people who cannot perform certain tasks on their own. As a result, the working environment for those providing nursing care is extremely tough.

In the future, the focus will be placed on supporting people’s independence, to assist those receiving care to indecently carry out tasks that they were previously unable to perform.

As long as it is in line with the wishes of the person in question, our goal will be to help them recover to the point of no longer needing nursing care.

I aim to develop and introduce monitoring sensors and robots, among other solutions, thereby relieving some of the burden placed on care givers. At the same time, those on the frontlines of nursing care will feel a greater sense of achievement when they see how their skills and hard work lower the degree to which people require nursing care. This will surely help nursing care providers feel a heightened sense of self-worth as specialized professionals.

To accelerate these paradigm shifts, not only will we support designated leading practices through budgetary and other means, but we will also thoroughly reform systems in the medical and nursing care sectors, namely compensation and assignment standards. We will clarify a target timeline and count backwards from that when determining an action plan.

I would like all relevant ministers to advance their reviews of the specific measures and timeframes proposed by the members of this Council, and immediately flesh these measures out.”